Enemies in the Midst

(Well, Kira, Elliot, and Damien are at camp. Kira is trying to sleep and the other two are about to eat. Leila has discovered a pair of neera who have shown her to a slaver's camp. She's about to attack the camp in order to get some live food for herself, Agato, and Kira. And the new girl, Rurei, is in a cage hanging up in the camp.)

"Hey look." Amanda said eagerly to the fairy as she pointed to a cage in the camp, seeing another tiny like herself over there. "We have to help her!? Amanda said looking to the fairy with a sense of panic, wanting to help one of her own.

Elliot peeked inside her tent as he sighed softly, shaking his head. "You are rather difficult, I brought some to you, just eat up." He said sighing softly, not imagining that the girl would be this difficult, especially when it came to eating a bowl of stew.

(Okay NOW we can continue XD And please try and keep up Agato, I try to linger for you every now and then but we can't keep doing it )

Leila giggled softly. "We will Amanda, we will. I plan on saving people one group at a time. First the Human sized people, then after a little while the predators, then finally the tinies. That way each group has a chance to get away and be free without worrying about getting eaten." The fairy watched the camp, taking mental notes of where the guards are stationed and their routes. However, she was really waiting for whoever was in charge to show up. He would be the first victim.

As Amanda looked on she saw a man who was heavily armored walk out of his tent, barking a few orders at some of the other men, wanting them to move the slaves out of sight for the night. He scanned around the camp, deciding nothing was out of the ordinary, carrying a Fairy Duster in his hands.

The Tomthumb called to one of her captors. "Excuse me! Sirs could someone give me my pack so I can get my drawing things perhaps? I'm dreadfully bored in here and I'll tell you what I'll even draw you something! Something that looks like genuine tiny art! That should be worth at least a bit!" She suggests sweetly when they come to move her out of sight.

(Kira is difficult. She's, like, permanently set to 'hard' mode. XD)

Kira threw the covers away from her face, then sat up at less than half the speed of that motion. She looked at Elliot through half-closed eyes.

"Fine. I guess if you're willing to be a gentleman about it..."

Kira reached forward to recieve the bowl. She was currently wearing only her undergarments, so her black and red bra showed over the covers as she leaned forward, though her size was really not all that great.

It wasn't hard for Leila to spot the leader, especially since he was the one barking out the orders. She also noticed the Fairy Duster and grimaced. "So the girls weren't kidding when they said these guys had protection...but that's ok, I can handle it." The fairy thought about what to do for a few moments, when she noticed a few nekos that were locked up and looked half starved. She smiled to herself as an idea came to her. After judging the distance between herself and the leader, Leila cast a few protective spells on herself. She also put the two Neera into the pilloe and blanket filled bag she used to carry people in. "You two stay right here, ok?" she put the bag on the branch, making sure to position it so the bag wouldn't fall, then made her move.

Leila silently warped to a slightly closer tree, then attempted to warp and shrink the leader at the same time. If she succeeded, the man would suddenly find himself Neera size in a cage with a hungry neko.

Elliot smiled as he handed the bowl to her, it wasn't much, but it would tide everyone over until they found something bigger. Elliot sat down, taking it as an invitation as he smiled to her. "I am not a bad guy, I just like to flirt a little to much, and when I try to reassure people, it usually comes off as more intimidation." He said chuckling softly as he smiled lightly. "I am a good leader, but as far as social skills, friendships, I find those hard to come by."

The leader suddenly appeared alarmed, unbuttoning his shirt to show an amulet around his neck, glowing momentarily as he chuckled lightly looking around, the amulet obviously absorbing the magic she was trying to use on him. "So where are ya!" He called out, but not loud enough for anyone else to hear. "Good thing I got this amulet from that red-headed freak. I am not letting some bug eat me today."

"Your not supposed to be having fun shrimp." One of the slavers said to the female tiny, kicking her cage tauntingly with a smirk on his face.

Rurei tumbled over easy from the blow. "There is no problem with doing something productive!" Rurei retorts standing again dusting herself off. "You stand to make more porfit than before but instead you settle with the bare minimum! No wonder you're just an underling! You lack Imagination!" She finished turning away from the slaver.

Leila scowled as she watched her spell do nothing. "Looks like it'll be the hard way then. But I don't want to alert the guards...Better take them one at a time." She tried to warp and shrink one of the guards that wasn't in the leader's direct sight to her hands.

"I have an imagination, I just need money, I don't care how much out leader makes, I need a paycheck, sorry for your misfortunes." He said rolling his eyes, this particular slaver not understanding why they took tinies, picking on people much smaller than yourself wasn't good sportsmanship.

One of the other men felt his body shrink as he was suddenly sitting in the palm of a fairy, looking back beyond the trees to the other 7 men, including the leader, back at the camp, looking to the fairy. "H-hi....." He said fearfully, his voice shaking and stuttering as he locked eyes with her. "W-w-w-who are you?"

"You don't sound very sorry for my misfortunes seeing as earlier you kicked my cage." She replied pouting still. "I mean I'm as good as dead already, doomed to be someone's snack or toy for a child. I think the least you could be was civil...It would be nice to have a friend before the end, I understand your need for money, I just want a little bit of respect is that too much to ask for?"

Leila smiled sweetly. "My name is Leila, nice to meet you dinner." She closed her hand around the man to prevent his escape and lifted him up to her lips. "A shame we can't talk longer, but that's how it goes." She gave the man a small lick. "Any last words?"

"What do you want then?" The man asked the tiny softly, kneeling down and sitting cross legged in front of her cage, at least he avoided doing any work from this. "Wait wait, how about this." He said reaching into his pouch, handing her the materials she had on her when they captured her. "Draw me something, if it strikes me in a certain way, I will let you go, because of your size they won't be as angry, and they would think you simply escaped with the help of others, it isn't far fetched. But it has to be special...."

"N-no no no! Don't eat me." He said wincing when she licked him, looking to her with a frightened expression as he looked into her mouth with a frightened expression, struggling against her grip to no avail as he stuttered. "Not like this! I don't want this!"

Rurei looks shocked. "You will really give me a chance to escape? Alright thank you!" She begins to sketch furiously she is going fast but not making mistakes. "Regardless if you end up liking this or not I would like to know your name. my name is Rurei Laen." When she finished it she handed it over. The sketching looks closer to the style of a biologist who studies animals. It depicts a street in Negav, the main subject of the piece is a man in Minalca priest robes and on his shoulder is Rurei. Nothing in the picture compares to the man, the detail in him is the greatest nearly as if she had taken a picture of him instead of drawing him. "Its my fondest memory, and the reason I am out here in the first place...I need to find him." Rurei mood changes from hopeful to sad thinking about it.

"Well then," Leila says cheerfully as she moves the man away from her mouth. "why don't we strike up a deal. I will make sure that you do not get eaten or harmed if you do one thing for me. It isn't anything major, just you doing part of your job. I want you to go ask the man in charge why he looks so alarmed. Nothing more, just that. How does that sound to you? Do that one thing and I can promise your safety." Leila held out a finger to shake. "Oh, and two more things. You are to tell no-one that you saw me, including your leader, and if you see me again you are not to say a word. If you do I will make sure your final moments in my belly are worse then anything you could possibly imagine."

"Joseph, pretty plain I know, but it is my name." He said as he took the drawing, looking it over as he looked back to the small girl, placing the drawing carefully into his pouch as he stood up, pressing a button on his wrist that released the electronic lock on her cage. "Now run, get out of here before someone sees you."

"Just eat him." Damien said as he looked down on them from a tree above, having darted to the area after Elliot vanished into Kira's tent, smirking down to her, leaping down beside the fairy as he looked to her holding the tiny man. "He is of no use, we have to get the amulet off their leader, it is nullifying your magics affect on him. I know, because I designed it, I wear one, that is why I took it off the first time you shrank me." He said smirking as he peeled his shirt back, showing he was wearing the exact same design. "I divulge in magic a bit, now eat the bastard."

"Y-you!" The man said fearfully, recognizing the man from when their leader purchased the item from him as he looked to the fairy. "This isn't fair, I knew that, I could have told you that!" He said in a panicked tone as he began to struggle again, wanting to beat the fire conjurer within an inch of his life. Damien obviously enjoying himself, wanting to see her do it, Damien didn't care that he was a human like he was, he wanted to see this, it interested him.

Rurei will look like she wants to say something but decides against it. "Joseph, you are better than a commoner slaver, may Minalca protect your fortunate and I hope I can return the kindness one day." She puts on her pack and makes sure her vials were on her belt. She started to run trying to be quiet and heading to the closest way to get away from the slavers holding her tiny machete in hand.

(I hope my character didn't totally just out of this story! XD)

"Well, I'm really not the one to talk to about your personal problems," Kira said, receiving her meal. "Things are harder to come by when you look in the wrong place. Get out."

She lifted the spoon from the bowl and pointed it at Elliot somewhat dramatically, flicking soup in his direction.

Leila looked up at Damien, then down at the Human in her hands. "You're both right you know. I don't need to offer you a deal anymore now that I have Damien to help me. And you really aren't useful to me. However, you're right that it isn't fair. I'm pretty sure you would have agreed to help me, but now..." She thought for a bit. "Here, I'll give you a chance to survive. I'm going to send you to a small bag, inside that bag are two neera sisters I've met. They helped me out. I want you to make sure trhey are kept comfortable and happy while I deal with this camp. If I return and they tell me you kept them happy, I let you go. If not, I eat you. simple enough." She warped the man to the bag holding Amanda and her sister without waiting for him to accept her offer.

"Ok, now that I'm done with him, how should we take care of this?" Leila leaned up against the tree. "I just warp you and me to the leader and you take that amulet off of him?"

"Oh I can get the amulet off him alright, that shouldn't be a problem, just get me in close and we can do this silently, that way you get to eat your food without someone interrupting you." Damien said with a smirk as he looked to Leila, glad he came to help her. It was always fun spending your free time with fairies, and this one was, especially interesting, more than any other person he had met, regardless of race.

Elliot looked to Kira as he sighed, shaking his head as he stood up, looking down to the neko. "You know, you remind me of someone, your personality of course, you look completely different. Sorry for intruding, I was only trying to get on better terms with you." He said seriously, not used to actually telling people his intentions, shaking his head as he left her tent, feeling a bit defeated, still unable to relate to anyone.

Joseph carefully watched the tiny escape, secretly following her, very slowly and very subtly to make sure she escaped, looking up into the trees, spotting two people, about to sound the alarm as he took a breath, deciding that if they were here to free slaves, they could help the girl escape as well.

Leila was about to warp herself and Damien to the leader when she noticed a Human looking up at them. thinking quickly, the fairy warp/shrunk him to her hands and frowned. "Looks like we have someone who spotted us. I think you'll do nicely for dinner." She put the man into a pocket and then silently warped herself and Damien right behind the leader.

Kira watched Elliot leave, and took a sip of her soup, which was rather tasty, despite being made in the middle of nowhere. She felt somewhat bad for the guy. She could sympathize with him, not fitting in. Though she got over that when she was, like, six, and made it her strength instead. Still, she wasn't hanging around to make friends. She would eat her soup, go to sleep, and in the morning she would go home, end of story. She lied back and turned onto her side, placing the bowl on the ground and resting her head on her hand as she lazily lifted the spoon to her mouth and took another sip.

As Damien tapped the leader on the shoulder the man spun around as Damien's fake arm flipped back into a blade, moving his arm up forcefully as he cut the man's wrist, forcing the gun out of his hand, gripping the amulet as he yanked it off him, kicking him to the ground as he smirked widely. "Shrink him so no one will hear him scream." Damien said quickly, before the man even made contact with the ground.

Joseph panicked as he beat on the pocket, clenching his fists in anger as he looked around. "I am not like them! There is another tombthumb! I let her go!" He screamed, not even knowing if the fairy could hear him as he heard movement from somewhere else.

Amanda saw the slaver as she and her sister glared at him evilly, not knowing what to say, but hearing what the other slaver was screaming, trusting that Leila would do the right thing. "You know the only way we are going to tell her not to eat you is if you do something for us right?" Amanda said to him seriously, the slaver ignoring her out of fear, not knowing what to say.

Elliot looked up at the night sky through the trees, most of the other men asleep as he clenched his fists. Tomorrow night wouldn't be good for anyone, he needed to make sure that he was well away from the group. He heard something as he flung around, seeing a fairy there as he relaxed, rolling his eyes. "Joanna." He said sarcastically.

"Elliot." She said with a giggled as he walked towards the campfire, smirking to him. "At least your doing what we asked you, glad you don't mind me making sure your doing what your supposed to. Your men are lucky I am good and full right now, that is for sure."

Leila did as she was told, shrinking the man. She then warped the man to a cage with bars close enough together to prevent a tiny from escaping but large enough to hold a group of tinies. The fairy proceeded to make short work of the slavers, sending those she shrunk to the cage with their leader. Anyone she couldn't shrink was shot on the spot. When she was finally finished, the fairy carried the cage of tiny slavers to where the slaves were being kept.